A Day In The Life Of A UK Lifestyle Blogger

It’s felt as though blogging has been my life…all my life, but I actually only started out back in 2015 as a way to hone my writing skills. I found a free blog site, created a blog and started writing, I never for a second thought people would actually read it or that it would start my career as a lifestyle blogger! Almost 6 years on, I’m a full time UK lifestyle blogger and I LOVE it! I feel so lucky to be able to do what I love.

It probably took a year for the blog to properly take off and for me to be able to quite my full time job and make blogging my job. It was such a slog at the beginning but I loved it so it didn’t feel like work at all. I was just getting paid to do my hobby. Back then I had to do a lot of the leg work – reaching out to brands, pitching article ideas…etc, but now much of it comes to me which is amazing!

I get asked ALOT by friends and family actually who I swear still don’t really understand what it is I do or how I get paid.

Starting My Day

As I work for myself, I don’t have a start or end point in the day. Some days I work until late in the evening (never past 7pm unless I have strict deadlines to meet) but have a slower start to the day and other days I will start earlier and finish earlier – especially if it’s a nice day and I fancy going out for a walk in the sunshine! However, working for yourself means you have to have a lot of self motivation as you could quite easily end up sitting around in your comfy clothes watching day time tv all day long.

Emails & Admin

My day starts by checking emails (sometimes while still in bed), to go through any quick ones and to get an idea of the day ahead.

I’ll then get up and do a few chores around the house – mainly putting a clothes wash on as well as the dishwasher from the night before.

I’ll then sit down for an hour or so and go through a few more emails, yep, generally still in my lounge wear or some kind of gym clobber, and check that the scheduled blog posts have gone live (generally around 8-9am). I used to make sure I was properly dressed each day to make it feel as though I was at work, but I get just as much done no matter what i’m wearing so i’d rather be comfy, especially if i’m not going to be seeing anyone else that day.

After an hour or so I will have a quick break to get some breakfast (always my protein porridge and my ginger shot) and then it’s back to it. It’s around this time that I will write and schedule the blog post due to go out the next day and to schedule in any sponsored articles. I try to leave gaps between each sponsored lifestyle blog post so it doesn’t get too messy and there’s a nice balance between my articles and branded articles.

Breaking Up The Day

At around 11.30am I try to do my workout in the garden (especially if it’s a nice day), before sitting down for some lunch. This doesn’t always happen and will depend on how busy I am but I think I have a nice work/life balance so normally manage to get some kind of workout in.

Social Media

After lunch it’s back to the emails, writing lifestyle blog posts and scheduling in any social media posts – Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are the only ones I use. My Instagram is mainly fitness based so during my workout is when I take photos and stories to go live on there, however I don’t post everyday anymore. Oh and yes, I am kinda gross, if I haven’t had a super sweaty workout, I will leave having my shower until later on so I can get more work bits done during office hours.

Work Space

Having a proper place to do work makes me a lot more productive. A space in the house that’s just for work, with no distractions. I also like to make sure it’s in an area with lots of natural light. However, here in the UK that’s not always easy so i use a proper desk lamp like this one (below) from BenQ. The BenQ WiT e-Reading Lamp provides the perfect lighting, even in the darkest of corners. The lamp reduces the contrast glare on your screen and covers an extra-wide lighting range on your desk area. It ensures proper eye-care and also reduces eye strain by lowering the difference of brightness between the screen and your natural surroundings.

It is a bit like Groundhog Day at the moment with work. I can’t go out to meetings what with the corona virus keeping us all inside or working from home. Before lockdown, I would generally go out for at least one meeting a week with brands. Either to discuss current plans orin the hope of working with them in the future. It also helps to meet face to face when going over any contracts or legal documents.

Working With Brands

My income comes through in a few different ways these days. Mainly social media posts and shout outs. Or sponsored blog posts and placing links and articles for brands. I used to do a lot of giveaways and reviews back when I first started. However, it got to the point where my house was filled to the brim with stuff. I HATE stuff and clutter so decided to streamline that side of the business. I now only do paid for giveaways (not gifted items) and with product reviews, I only work with brands I love. This has cut down on the amount of stuff SO much! I felt so privileged to be getting so much from all these brands but it kinda felt wasteful too. There is only so much one person can use at a time.

How It Works

So how does it work I hear you asking. Well, to be honest there are many different ways I work with brands. Many will get in touch with me after coming across a similar article on my lifestyle blog. Or perhaps find me through my social media channels. It’s so important to put yourself out there for people to be able to find you easily. Over the years i’ve been put on various different PR agency blogger outreach services lists. This means as soon as something comes up that i’d be a good fit for, they get in touch.

Then of course I look out for opportunities myself. Mainly on various Facebook groups and by searching on Twitter via hashtags such as #bloggerswanted or #prrequest. When I find something suitable, i’ll send over my media pack so they know who I am. It will also give them my website insights such as traffic and follower numbers. So they’ll know whether working with me would be beneficial to us both. That’s the key here. You want the collaboration to be beneficial to both parties. You want to try and strike up a longterm relationship with them that you’re both happy with.

New Relationships

Striking up a new relationship with a brand or blogger outreach agency can be hard. However, SO beneficial if you get it right. If you think of how many influencers there are out there. Plus, how many agencies there are these days. You have to be able to stand out from the rest.

I get inundated with emails asking if i’ll place their article on my lifestyle blog for them totally free. I would imagine they also get lots of emails from influencers asking them for free stuff too.

Helping Out

I’m all about helping other people out but it’s how you go about it that matters. For example, I would never send a two sentence email to a brand i’ve never worked with. Let alone then ask them for free items in return for one Instagram story for example. To begin with, they probably get this a lot and secondly, why would they agree to that? Where is the benefit to them? An Instagram story doesn’t last long. They have no idea who you are or what your engagement is like.

You have to see their products as their babies. They’ve probably put everything in to creating these products you are asking them for totally free. It’s the same the other way round as well. If someone asked me in a generic email starting – “Dear Sir” to place their article for free – i’d delete it! They obviously haven’t taken the time to look at my blog (my baby), so why work with someone like that?

In A Nutshell

In a nutshell, take the time and effort to research a brand/influencer you might want to work with. The time you take at the beginning could be well worth your while in building new connections.

That’s pretty much my day in a nutshell at the moment. It is a lot more interesting than it sounds and it’s not all emails and computer work. It’s actually very varied most days. Some days will be a lot of emails and website work. Other days it will be more about creating content and taking photos or coming up with ideas for new articles. I generally write these down as and when they come to me. However, if I’m lacking creativity, I’ll put a day aside to plan my schedule. I only ever write about things that inspire me or things I love to read about. My passion at the moment is mainly health & fitness!

I hope you have found this day in the life of a lifestyle blogger article interesting!